Testing People at Work

Mike Smith is based at Manchester Business School. His previous publications include Personnel Selection and Assessment: Individual and Organisational Perspectives (co-edited, 1993), Advances in Selection and Assessment (co-edited, 1993) and Analysing Organisational Behaviour (edited, 1991).

• Preface viiAcknowledgements ix1 Competence in Occupational Testing 1Part I Preparation for Testing 72 Job Analysis and Person Specifications 93 An Introduction to Intelligence and Cognitive Ability 224 An Introduction to Personality 315 An Introduction to Motives (Needs, Values and Interests) 586 Attracting Applicants 72Part II Psychometrics 817 Basic Statistics 1 838 Basic Statistics 2 1009 The Sensitivity of Selection Measures 11010 Standard Error and Reliability 11311 Validity 13312 Bias of Measures 16513 Calculating the Sterling Value of Selection (Utility Analysis) 173Part III Assessment Tools 18114 Choice of Selection Methods 18315 Psychometric Tests 1 18716 Psychometric Tests 2 20917 e-Selection 22018 Other Scientific Methods of Selection 23819 Less Scientific Methods of Selection 26220 Assessment Centres 269Part IV Using Tests 28121 Test Administration 28322 Norms and Profiles 29823 Interpreting Scores 31524 Face-to-face Feedback 34725 Written Reports 35526 Telephone Feedback 36427 Ethics and Data Protection 368Bibliography 383Author Index 404Occupation Index 410Subject Index 412Test and Measures Index 422

"Comprehensive, authoritative, and readable, a combination that is almost impossible to achieve in an introductory upwards text to a scientific and practical discipline such as employee selection. This text retains its independence throughout from any single test publisher, yet covers all the competency areas laid down in the BPS framework, and is an absolute goldmine of information on testing and selection procedures more generally. Anyone even thinking of booking onto Level A or Level B test training courses should buy this book first." Neil Anderson, PhD, Professor of Organizational Psychology, University of Amsterdam "At last! A superbly practical book which takes you through the stages of psychometric testing sequentially, but also integrates theory and statistics into the story. The Smiths have provided all would-be practitioners with an indispensable tool for their learning, development, and reference." Peter Heriot, Visiting Professor, University of Surrey and Open University Business School "This is a much needed text that provides an excellent grounding for anyone aiming to achieve any of the BPS Certificates of Competence in Occupational Testing. It also represents the ideal source of reference for those using tests in the workplace. Each chapter is written in a clear, non-threatening style that takes the pain out of understanding the use of occupational tests." Dr Caroline Limbert, University of Oxford, BPS verified assessor for Certificate of Competence in Occupational Testing